Westchester group to push mayoral candidates on LAX pledge

In what has become a Los Angeles mayoral election tradition, a Westchester community group again plans to ask candidates to pledge to protect the community against major northward expansion by Los Angeles International Airport.

Denny Schneider, president of the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, said he will finish the new pledge within two weeks. Schneider's group began the practice in 2001, and since then, he said, every major candidate, including current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has signed.

"We're tweaking it because we found that there was obviously some ability to weasel because the mayor hasn't exactly been 'Johnny on the Spot' with us to protect the region," Schneider said. "There's not much I can do about it. I understand what he is doing. I have known him for a lot of years. I respect him. I just don't agree with him on this one. He certainly isn't enforcing it."

Representatives for all five major candidates - Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, Kevin James, Jan Perry and Emanuel Pleitez - said they were waiting to see the new pledge before saying whether their candidate will sign it. All five signaled that the candidates understand the significance of the pledge for Westchester, which is adjacent to the airport's north side. All also said they understand LAX needs to continue its modernization program to remain competitive. Future plans call for an an automated people mover, consolidated rental car facility and a Metro station on or near the airport.

Schneider said his group's chief concern is a plan favored by airport staff to move a runway north by 260 feet. The project would not require the airport to acquire more land, but it would move airplane landings closer to Westchester homes and businesses. Officials with the airport and the Federal Aviation Administration say the change is needed to make the airport safer.

Schneider said another key is ensuring more accountability for the eventual winner. He said he wants to end the practice in which the mayor publicly supports Westchester residents while permitting the Board of Airport Commissioners and the airport's executive director to make decisions that could eventually harm the community. He said that has been part of his concern with Villaraigosa.

"The executive director is appointed by him and the commissioners serve at the pleasure of the mayor," Schneider said. "If he truly wanted to stop this today, he could do it with one phone call. He has chosen not to do it."

This year's pledge will also ask candidates to support a philosophy of regionalization - requiring Los Angeles World Airports to work to distribute air traffic among other area airports so LAX does not become too congested. It will ask the airport authority to divest itself of Ontario International Airport, which it now owns, in the hopes new owners would invest in operations there.

"The problem from a real practical standpoint is that what we are doing is putting all of our eggs in one basket," Schneider said.

John J. Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, said politicians generally sign pledges because they view it as the correct action during a campaign. Afterward, the winning candidate deals with the consequences, he said.

"When you're running for office and your time horizon ends on Election Day, the cost of not signing seems a lot greater than the cost of signing," Pitney said. "That may create problems when you are in office, but you worry about that when you're in office."

Schneider said the campaign season ritual is still important because it forces candidates to consider airport-related issues and educates voters about LAX expansion.

And though he said he hopes all five candidates will sign it, he said he is not so naive to think the next mayor will follow every facet of it.

"Let's face it," he said, "there is nothing that can hold anyone to a pledge. If they are going to break it, they are going to break it."